Maximize training by eliminating interference.

One gift of multisport is the mechanical balance offered by diverse training components in different mediums. The strength and positive adaptations of one discipline can carry over to the other discipline(s), and gains in each can translate to gains in the whole: you become faster and improve race times.

The tricky part is to balance training and lifestyle considerations. Achievement on all fronts becomes an energy game. To get a progressive and sustainable training program that fits into a busy schedule requires planning like an economist—allocate scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. In sport that translates to using finite resources for optimal results, so we eliminate waste.

Potential = performance – interference (waste)
Economy eliminates the interference

Sports economy is essentially speed at a given energy expenditure. With an economy-driven training plan, research shows it’s possible to improve athletic performance from 5% to 20%, based on current level of experience and fitness. The general multisport plan is outlined below: customize your plan around your strengths in each discipline, economizing further by using more resources to train for your third-strongest leg.

1. Follow an annual structured, sustainable, and gradual periodized training program
Have a holistic annual strategy and specific goals: prepare your entire season physically and psychologically. Consider every lifestyle consideration so you can stay as consistent as possible to the plan, while allowing for the flexibility required by travel, health, family, and changing circumstances.

Periodization is based on the general adaptation syndrome: a controlled (strategic) amount of training stress followed by appropriately positioned periods of recovery will produce subtle changes to the body as it adapts to meet the imposed demands. With consistency you can avoid stagnation—the body adapts to stimulus, and if there is too much time without stimulation, there is a decrease in performance (detraining effect).

Overload principle states that various systems of the body will become stronger and function better if necessary demands are place on them. Vary training components in terms of volume, intensity, and order, to produce overload but not overtraining. Introducing a new stimulus in your plan at the right time and in the appropriate load can take your fitness to a higher level. Take into consideration things like

a. Add distance first (never distance and intensity at same time) to avoid injury
b. Keep easy days and complete recovery days in the mix
c. Avoid a hard run session the day before a hard bike workout

2. Balance training components and train all energy systems for long-term functionality
Success in our sport is largely the right mix of three elements:

• Endurance–ability to resist fatigue
• Force–use of muscular strength
• Speed

The economic training program will be a unique mix of each of these elements depending on the athlete’s strengths, limiters, and level of fitness and experience. Work designed to stress one component will have a training effect on all of the other components as well (holistic training). Overdevelopment of one thing can create discord with another.

The program must train and balance energy systems. The anaerobic system kicks in when the aerobic is working as hard as it can but can’t meet energy demands quickly enough. The aerobic system does not stop, so we build up the aerobic system—our most fuel efficient—so it can carry more of a load at all intensities. And a higher anaerobic capacity helps athletes tolerate high-intensity interval sets and increases aerobic pace.

Know the purpose of each training session and how it contributes to gradual development. Manipulate training to achieve the specific outcomes (goals) you set in the plan. Any stimulus higher than baseline can train, but is it sustainable?

3. Ingrain proper form—perfect practice makes perfect Muscle balance/Proper Mechanics
Proper technique allows you to

• Cover the distance faster
• Use less energy
• Reduce the risk of injuries

Grinding out yards and miles with inefficient, incorrect technique will send improper messages to your neuromuscular system and cause wasted energy and possibly injury or muscle and joint aggravation (overuse injuries). Proper mechanics won’t guarantee improved performance, because fitness level, rhythm, timing, and genetics are all integral to faster splits. Poor form will almost always detract from improved and economic performance. Proper form can combat inertia, friction, and gravity; prevent injuries; decrease time to exhaustion; and increase power and speed.

Address mechanics with

• Analysis
• Correction
• Maintenance drills

Drills
For optimal economy, Include drills in all aspects of your training. Drills help develop both sides of your body equally, using both small and large muscle groups. They help you develop strength specific to movement patterns and weight transfer. Drills simplify a complicated skill, helping with mastery. They can serve as warm up and conditioning exercises.

Work on technique—include drills in all disciplines—year round.

4. Strength
Multisport requires conditioning the body to produce repetitive maximal efforts with little or no drop-off in performance.

Research is inconclusive that strength training can directly improve sustained performance or maximum sustainable power, unless you are completely untrained. Strength training does offer the following benefits:

1. decreases risk of joint injury and increases joint stability
2. concurrent power and dynamic flexibility training enhance ability to produce and absorb forces
3. strengthens connective tissues so entire support system is more durable

It helps in core stability, greater equilibrium of overall strength, and bone density. The more stable the core (trunk), the stronger the energy is transferred to your peripherals (limbs). Core strength and posture can contribute to economy as excessive body movements, bad posture, or weak supporting muscles can compromise energy and performance.

Train primarily movements that target multiple muscles at once, so every second is maximized and the kinetic chain works as a unit and helps alleviate any wasted motions. Strength training that focuses on muscle recruiting adds to stability, coordination, and balance.

There is some evidence supporting the effects of explosive strength training on explosive effort, such as the initial torque produced in a bike sprint. Quickness (light and quick moves) can teach the nervous system to recruit muscular activity very quickly.

5. Habituation— the body will make itself most efficient at the activities it does the most

It takes from 2500 to 25,000 movements to become proficient at an action. Repetition creates economy—undoing habits requires cognitive independence: the minute you think about it, you slow down and become inefficient. The top athletes don’t think: they do.

Practice simplicity with constant repetition
Train the way you (want to) race
Practice all aspects from terrain to fueling to transition

6. Speed and Power
Speed creates economy. If you simply jog laps slowly or always ride slowly, your form can deteriorate and you can adopt poor mechanical habits. Speed forces the body to eliminate any extraneous movements.

Speed
-intervals will improve your efficiency at all speeds.
-drills can improve your form, making you faster and more economic
-primes the anaerobic engine, which will help you operate at full capacity
-prepares you for race pace
-trains the neuromuscular connections to be wired for speed (specificity)

When you develop the ability to generate more muscular force in shorter periods of time, you become more powerful. Although we tend not to think of endurance sports as power events, competitive endurance athletes are in fact very concerned about power, since higher power equates with faster run times. Optimal power development for endurance sports depends on two key things: the development of greater strength and the evolution of quicker application of that strength.

6. Flexibility
Flexibility governs quality of movement: benefits increase over time (like reduced risk of injury)
a. Sport-specific stretches can eliminate inefficient body movements
b. ROM (range of motion) Enhances ability to learn and perform skilled movements
c. Can generate acceleration over a greater range of motion, thereby increasing speed
Following are some specific approaches to each discipline using the economic training approach described above.

The Swim
1. The better the quality of the interaction with the water in any form, the more you learn about aquatic fluency and economy. Multi-dimensional training can make you a better freestyle swimmer by making your body deal with unexpected demands and help you solve the many movement problems water presents.

2. To compete in multisport you want to swim a good time that economizes your energy needs for the rest of the race. Learn and master the universal form/speed elements, then train to cultivate your individual technique optimization (play to your strengths).

3. Train like a competitive, pure swimmer: true competitive swim training research shows that shorter, more focused, technique-rich (and even coached) sessions can produce faster overall swim times than simply cranking out yards in the water.

4. Breathe as much as you need, even on every stroke cycle. You can train with bi-lateral breathing to develop balanced muscle strength: in a race the more oxygen you can get to your working muscles the longer those muscles can work, and with more power.

The Run
1. Learn to deflect and reduce impact

2. Avoid or correct non-linear deviations—you are a straight-line speed athlete

3. Nurture momentum

4. Practice speed regularly and log for progress/efficiency

5. Cadence is the constant component

6. Rhythm and relaxation: An exaggerated stride length can make you inefficient and tire quickly. An economic, natural stride length will extract the maximum return for the minimum effort.

The Bike
1. Get a precision bike fit: you and your bike are an integrated system and a good bike fit is integral to performance gains. Lack of proper fit is like running in shoes that are too small or too big.

2. The confines of being connected to the bike require constant help on tuning, aligning, and releasing the body for muscle balance or you will compromise your power. Enlist a good network of health care professionals.

3. Use heart rate or power to measure and adjust training intensity.

4. Maximize your pedal stroke. We can’t realize huge gains in cycling economy/efficiency simply from technique training. Your aerobic fitness and genetic talents (% of type I muscle fiber) will largely determine your cycling economy. How hard and fast you pedal, and how you apply force around the stroke, can affect performance—the right cadence for terrain may improve efficiency while reducing fatigue. Train based on perspective gains and work on core stability, posture, and overall alignment.